I think graphics are very underutilized in grantwriting. I think this stems from the fact that most proposal authors hesitate to put in a graphic because there are already so many formatting constraints and/or page limits that they do not want to risk losing the precious space that they do have.
During my study one of the things we encountered was that one of the authors had placed a graphic in his proposal and the graphic was very important to the overall proposal, in fact, most of it hinged upon his graphic. The problem was that the graphic was in color but the proposal was printed in black and white, a minor detail excluded from the RFP, but something that made a huge difference. I think if you're going to make the choice to use a graphic, do so in such a way that if those "minor" details are not included your proposal will not be affected.
As powerful as images can be, in a proposal, under such staunt restrictions, you need to make the graphic count and be worthwile. If it will help illustrate or enhance your message in any way, by all means use it, but I don't see the point in using a pie chart when it says so little. I think Tufte's theory of chart junk should be heeded carefully in this regard. Do not put more on the page than is needed to convey the information.
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